Day Sixteen - P is for...

Popchips - how I love thee!

Food features two days in a row!  It would seem that using the lunch hour to create my blog is swaying how I think about the different photo ops!

To my credit, I actually thought of this idea in the morning when I was packing my lunch.  The intention was to pour out all of the chips and get a close up of the pile, au natural.  A very good idea, indeed.

What actually happened at lunch time was I ripped open the bag and wolfed down the 16-chip portion in about 3 minutes, licking the residual thai sweet chili seasoning off of my fingers and tossing the bag into the trash.

It wasn't until almost an hour later that I realized I had not yet taken the photo for the day AND I ate the target subject!  Sheepishly, I fished the bag from the trashcan and did my best to angle it in some flattering light.

The crinkled bag just wasn't working with me today.  Time to step up my photo game and perhaps bust out the fancy camera...these rookie shots may be entertaining to speak of, but they certainly don't create a dramatic, artistic effect...because of course, that is what I am going for!

Day Fifteen - O is for...

Olives, it would seem, are not very photogenic

I will confess to taking the O photo in a hurry and with little more thought than the first thing that came to mind when I considered my options.

Olives are indeed a staple in my diet - not that I am Mediterranean or have any real ties to the cuisine, other than I just enjoy it.  When we went to Turkey and Greece, I ate a Greek salad for something like 10 consecutive days and of course the olive is an important part of that recipe.

The olives here look a little worse for the wear.  I use them in salads at work, so there was at one point 2 or 3 jars going at the same time that I consolidated into 1, draining out some of the brine and in that, it appears I have not preserved the fine look of the mighty olive.

While I offer some apologies for my not so great photo in this assignment, I do not apologize for my love of the olive and therefore my desire to make it the star of the day today.

Day Ten - J is for...

It's the tiniest JUNIOR meal in the whole world!

Wednesday was a busy little day, given it was the day before Thanksgiving and I had a full day of work to cram into a 6 hour timeline.

It wasn't until I got to dinner (at about 9:45 pm, after the GREAT interfaith service at church) that I received what I would call inspiration for my J entry today.

Chipotle offers kid meals and since I knew that I would not be eating any lunch leftovers because of Thanksgiving weekend (we all know that we have expanded from a single day of eating to a whole 4-day weekend), it made sense to me to get the smaller meal so that I didn't waste any food OR consume too many calories (relative to what loomed for the weekend).

I got a quesadilla, which is in that little foil packet, but the miniature bag of chips was what really caught my eye in the whole process (it held 5 chips, in case you were wondering).  I guess that this could be considered some brilliant marketing, as the kids get the same experience as a full size meal, but it seemed a little wasteful to me to have a bag that small, even if it is intended for the junior crowd.

I will say that I was glad to have been with Ebe, who got the full sized bag of chips.  5 just wasn't going to cut it for me, especially with that itty bitty quesadilla!

Kabuki Cooking

Deliciousness prepared...tableside!

I had the opportunity to go to Benihana with a group for dinner last week - it has been at least 2 years since I have been there last and I must admit that I have forgotten just how good it is and how much fun it can be!

Besides the standard cool tricks - shrimp tails landing in the chef's hat and pocket, the volcano of steam and the impressive knife skills - it can get rather rowdy and boisterous, especially if you go with the right group of people!

The best trick is to tell the hostess or chef that there is a special occasion at the table, even when there is not.  We (as in I) have been guilty of setting people up as engaged, celebrating an anniversary, and, the good old standby, a birthday more than once in my large group visits to Benihana.

Birthday was the celebration of choice and PETE was the one to take that bullet for the team.  I am very proud of our GM team from New Orleans, as they were the ones who set it up as soon as the idea was planted in their head and PETE was a good sport, allowing us to make a fuss in November for his birthday that had already occurred in June.

Even better in the whole deal was after we sang happy birthday and all of the sparklers/candles died down, the bill came.  Guess who was assigned to pick it up?  PETE.  Apparently, we don't put a lot of value on birthdays in our work group!

A Whole Lot of Delicious

Fun notes in the kitchen

Damon (my friend at work) enjoys baking, and he also tries to eat a fairly healthy diet.  The end result is often a new treat baked with ingredients and in such a way that you may have never considered before, but realize that is very good, should you opt to give it a try!

It is fun that we in the office never know when we are going to be the lucky recipients of his efforts.  Sometimes I will have an inkling if he posts a picture or comment on Facebook and I see it, but more often than not, it is a total surprise and delight moment (Pinkberry speak) when I saunter into the kitchen and spy one of his Tupperware containers sitting on the table.

One of the things about Damon's baking that always entertains me is the detailed listing of the ingredients...today we have a clear picture of what IS in the cookie, as well as what is NOT.  I even found out from another source that the caloric content was known (120 calories and well worth it) and shared; something that is always appreciated when trying to balance out the whole calories in/out formula.

It should be noted that I added the last item in the These cookies do contain column...truth in labeling laws are very strict, you know!

A Sweet Sample

A quick post on the workplace this week.  We are testing some new topping options, with Nutella being a popular suggestion.  Not clear on how we would be able to serve it, I asked for a sample to be sent over to my office so that I could fiddle around with it, weigh out portions, etc.


I got an email that told me my sample had arrived and was sitting on my desk.  When I arrived the next morning, imagine my surprise to be greeted by a 5-lb bucket!
I used about 3 scoops for my testing and then I was done with it.  I admit to eating a spoonful of it right out of the jar, but then felt kind of over-sugared afterwards (although I will not deny it's tasty factor when I was enjoying it.)


There was a lively debate amongst the office-dwellers if a person could actually eat the entire contents of the jar in one sitting.  My speculation is no, speaking for myself anyway, I think that I would get sick.  Someone else thought that they could do it.  I left before any sort of challenge was thrown down.


I like Nutella and want to keep enjoying it; eating 5-lbs would ruin it for even the most fervent of fans!

We All Scream

I was in the Bay Area for a couple of days last week (Thu & Fri) for work, and while I was there, I mixed in a little fun too.  Barb & Joan are some very fine friends in Oakland/Berkeley who I always enjoy spending some time with; we had a rather enjoyable dinner at a favorite local place (Picante!) and then Barb hauled us over to a shop called Scream Sorbet.

As an ice cream fan, I am of course always willing to try something new.  I wondered how tasty these sorbets would actually be, given the fact that these are vegan sorbets, which means there is no dairy in them.  I've had dairy-free ice creams before and while I would give them a lukewarm, 'OK' rating, they have never been anything to get too super excited about.

Enter super excited status.  Good grief, it is delicious!  Joan stayed out in the car (because there was NOWHERE to park, so she sort of just stopped in a red zone), which meant that the decision making was up to Barb and I.  We were very diligent about our tasting.  Among the noteworthy included almond pink peppercorn, raspberry walnut & peanut vanilla.  After tasting our way through the menu, we settled on peanut vanilla (Barb), askinosie chocolate (Joan) and pistachio for me.

In addition to enjoying the sorbet, we learned that we all possess the skills to scrape out every available drop of flavor, even if that meant licking the bottom of the cup (it was dark and we were sitting in the safety of the car, no one on the street had to witness it!)  I seriously considered going back for another scoop, but some sense of decorum need to be maintained!

Every Little Thing They Do is Magic

I have been obsessed with Abbot's Pizza Co. in Venice since ny first introduction to this place a couple of years ago. I was at the Marina yesterday (details to follow tomorrow), and realized that I was close to what has got to be one of the best pizza places on the West Coast...EVER!

I knew that it was meant to be when I pulled up front and got a parking place without having to circle the block. There was only 1 person in front of me when I entered...the crowd came almost immediately after I stepped up to order.

I ordered something that both David (Meat Eater's) and I (Goat Cheese) could enjoy, a 1/2 and 1/2 pie is no problem here! Add to the deliciousness a pretzel crust (we went with garlic) and perfection is only a 20 minute wait away!

The place was jammed the entire time I waited, but I didn't mind as I viewed the crowd and enjoyed jamming along to one of my favorite songs by The Police, Every Little Thing She Does is Magic. Ahh, some 80's music, good eats in my near future and all of the people-watching a girl can handle on a work-night.

It certainly did feel magical and it tasted even better!

Donut Deliciousness

While at Farmers Market on Tuesday, I made a quick stop at Bob's Donuts, an LA institution when it comes to not-good-for-you-but-still-very-tasty foods. I had been once or twice before with some friends who are big donut aficionados, so I remembered that they were good. I knew that David would appreciate a little treat, so I shuffled right up to the window, ordered a few and sat in the common area for just a bit to enjoy the scenery.

What amazes me about a place like Farmers Market is how diverse and eclectic the patrons are. Tourists, local business people, employees, locals who just hang out and "old Hollywood"... people that I would suspect were very much a part of the scene back in the 50's who are living on residuals or trust funds and still come out to be seen.

There was one particular woman who just fascinated me. She was a generously -sized woman, decked out in FULL makeup including fake eyelashes and Cleopatra-like eyes, a full-length fur coat, purse with some kind of rabbit fur on it and a leopard-print cane. Nails done, big bling rings and some kind of gown under the coat, it was very fancy. She was sipping some coffee (from Bob's - it is LA's best, after all) and scratching off some lottery tickets. Not sure what all of that together means, but it made for some good people watching nonetheless.

The donuts made it safely home, David had one for dessert and we split the other two for a sampler the next morning. It is hard to deny the delicious taste of a fresh donut with a nice hot cup of tea. Perhaps I should buy some lotto scratchers...

Shake, Shake, Shake

February is the month that always speeds by. It is shorter by a few days than most, but there is something about that short transition we have from "winter" (as we call it) in Southern California that quickly turns to spring. Admittedly, the temperature difference is maybe 5 or 10 degrees and the amount of rain may or may not be the same, but we like to pretend as if we have seasons.

The movement from February to March for me means that St. Patrick's Day is coming and for that, we celebrate with...Shamrock Shakes!!! Remember my obsession two years ago with getting one, only to be denied two different times for various reasons? (I blogged about it, see if you remember the entry here). Last year, I completely missed out because I guess I just didn't go to Mickey D's. I seem to recall trying at the end of March, only to be told that they were out for the season.

2011 brought a gentle reminder from a friend last week during a conversation, when she reminded me about my obsession and asked me if the Shamrock Shake was in season yet. I made a mental note to put March 1st on my calendar so I could indulge in the deliciousness, and then went along my merry way.

This morning I had a plethora of things to do early before I left the house and then an early start time in the office, so instead of my usual fakey sausage and a banana, I opted to get an oatmeal and iced coffee from the Golden Arches on my way down Malibu Canyon.

Imagine my delight when I pulled around the drive through to see the banner proclaiming the good news...my beloved shake is already here! Talk about a little dose of serendipity at 6 o'clock in the morning!

I love the fact that no one even batted an eye when I placed my order, they even offered me whipped cream for the shake (I declined, empty calories, you know!). Yep, spring is officially here in my book, even if that means we are going to have rain and even some snow at the 1000' level. I've got my shamrock to keep me happy!

In My Grill

Two months of stalking have at last paid off!

The food truck phenomenon is alive and well in Los Angeles, with just about any gastronomical delight you can imagine being prepared and sold out of a truck, strategically parked on some street corner. In addition to having some darn good food, the simple fact that these trucks fly in the face of conventional marketing practices amazes me.

There are a few sections in town (such as the Miracle Mile, across from LACMA) where you can count on a row of food trucks lined up beginning at about 11 am, but these are not the hot, everybody wants some, find out where it is NOW kind of trucks. I have been in search of...The Grilled Cheese Truck.

I first heard of this delectable delight from a friend on Facebook who happened upon it. Once I saw that such a thing existed, I looked it up, "friended" it and started to watch for the location updates every single week to see where it would show up. There were a couple of close-but-no-grilled-cheese incidents when the truck was in range by about 15 miles, but I held out, knowing that my day would come.

Thursday, February 25, 2010 proved to be the day. Not only was the truck planned to be within 6 or 7 miles of the office, but it was parking at the Frosted Cupcakery, ANOTHER place that I love because of the delicious hi-top cupcakes. Clearly meant to be, I blocked the time on my calendar and invited another GCT admirer to come with me.

At the same time I blocked the time for the Grilled Cheese run, a last-minute appointment landed on my calendar, smack dab in the middle of my planned grilled cheese goodness...NOOOOOOOOOO! Undeterred and intent upon nothing coming between me and my future delicious lunch, I coordinated 4 different people for 3 different meetings all to occur in my car en-route, in-line or returning from the outing. Not the most traditional setting for a meeting, but productive AND it got me to my eventual goal...lunch nirvana!

I am here to tell you that my stalking days are not over. The sandwich options are fantastic and they allow customization, so this will be a regular stop whenever possible. I personally am voting for a regular gig and pairing with the fine people at the Frosted Cupcakery...this makes my stomach and my taste buds very, very happy!

Cheesy

Eric and I met for lunch last week to celebrate Little Britty (she is 22 and her name is Brittany, but much like Holly always being referred to as Schnoogs, you just can't step away from a good childhood nickname) and her looming departure. She has been accepted to the Peace Corps and will be leaving for Kazakhstan on March 9th (look for future blogs and education around this country!)

Little Britty shares my eating style of no animals with knees, so I knew that she would enjoy one of my local faves, Cube Cafe and Marketplace. I was first introduced by a real LA local a couple of years ago and have used it as the go-to restaurant just about any time someone is in the vicinity of my office and wants a good meal.

The cheese is always amazing, and the menu changes to enjoy the fresh and in-season items at the local Farmer's Market. I have not yet been there where anyone in my party was anything less than enthused about their order and the portions are just about right so that you can enjoy a sampler of cheese before your meal. Little Britty of course loved it and we had a great visit talking about all of the things that she will be doing while in Kazakhstan.

27 months is a long time to be gone from home, I wonder how well a care package of cheese would travel!

Snack Salvation

I am not one for squirreling away snacks - I am trying to do 6 small meals a day and as such, don't find the need for little treats too often.

Interestingly enough, I was searching in the pantry drawer for my trail mix this morning when when I found a bag of Dove dark chocolate. They are left over from Christmas (our delicious peanut butter blossoms got an upgrade this year from the run of the mill Hershey Kiss!) and because David & Holly are partial to milk chocolate, the dark chocolate sit unattended. I can't begin to tell you what I was thinking when I grabbed two squares - it was 4:45 am - and I threw them both into my purse without any purpose.

Enter the later part of the afternoon. I have successfully (perhaps relative, but for the sake of this conversation let's say it was successful) completed 6 of the 7 MUST DO tasks that I had upon my arrival in the office today. The last one looms and is going to take me a while...it is about 12 hours since that unconscious moment in my kitchen. I am sitting at my desk, trying to get my groove on, wondering what it will take to power through it when suddenly I remember...I have dark chocolate!

I am happily savoring the 2nd square now as I type this. I even had two different messages inside the wrappers...the first one said, "Do all things with love" - good advice. The second one was custom made for me - "Take a deep breath and exhale."

I did just that, chocolate breath and all!

Treats for the Soul

I must declare my love for 3 things this week (beyond of course the very long list of things that I already love!) 1 - Annette; 2 - Cookies; 3 - Facebook...and in that order.

I have put myself on a 2x per day Facebook check. I don't leave it open anymore because all too often I will get distracted if I see something pop up and then I realize that I am cutting into my brilliant efficiency by goofing off and scrolling through posts. I did the same with my personal email account, because good grief...I get a lot of email. At any rate, the point of me describing my daily routine is to identify how I came to this love of 3 things on Thursday.

I start work in the office at 6 am on Tue and Thu (conference calls with our new international markets in Europe), so the posts that are listed when I check early in the day are often from the previous night. There was a posting by a lovely General Manager who works in the 3rd Street Promenade store, proudly displaying her cookies and asking anyone if they wanted one. Jokingly, I commented on Annette's post that if she was going to drop by the office, I would love one, then I signed off and thought nothing more of it.

Imagine my surprise (and delight) when Annette showed up at the office at about 4:30 pm with a bag of 6 super sized cookies in tow. Super cool! I made 5 new best friends by sharing these AWESOME cookies and had a rather enjoyable visit with Annette who really wowed me with her good baking and thoughtful gift.

These are the kind of treats that are good for your stomach AND your soul!

Grubbin' on Grapefruit

I have been reintroduced to the delectable treat of grapefruit. David comes across a fair number of fruits, vegetables and flowers in his line of work, so we periodically benefit in the form of something fresh and organic grown to abundance by a customer and shared with us.

A bag of grapefruits materialized at the house while Holly and I were gone in Orlando and while they smelled very good, it wasn't my first inclination to eat one, but after David issued a ringing endorsement, I decided to section one and give it a try. WOW. Delicious doesn't even begin to describe, it was awesome and a great element of my "on the road" breakfast.

I brought a whole one to work today to enjoy at "breakfast 2". I subscribe to the six small meals a day program when I can, which means it seems like I am always eating something...not a bad deal! At any rate, I had a strange combination of a chocolate pomegranate Vita Top, a piece of string cheese and a grapefruit. Not to be eaten all at once, but it was good and it was yet again a reminder of just how good these grapefruit are!

I have already placed my request for another bag for as long as the bountiful harvest lasts!

Veggie Delight

The Schnoogs and I were happy to return to our Wednesday night dinner routine this week, celebrating with a Vegetarian Chinese find...a location that is a whopping 4 or 5 blocks away from Holly's dorm.

Touting all vegan/vegetarian options, Veggie Delight had a huge menu that took us some time to peruse. I must admit that I was a little distracted by the funky green decor with pink accents, combined with mirrors, wood carving and blue twinkle lights. I would like to identify the look with some intelligent-sounding name, but perhaps it is best to just leave it untitled or drop it In the larger bucket of "eclectic and almost tacky."

The design of the restaurant aside, Holly and I settled on some orange veggie chicken (described on Yelp as a must-have), lemon veggie chicken, broccoli, brown & white rice and wonton soup. Everything was extremely flavorful. We weren't wild about the texture of the lemon veggie chicken, but the sauce more than made up for it AND the portions are generous, which means that Holly and one of her roommates will be enjoying leftovers for lunch on Friday.

Not a bad deal for a starving college student!

The Burger Joint

Monday was the first full day in the city. We started early, as in leaving our hotel at 6 am to get into the city and in position for the first training session at 8 am...whew, that is an early start on East Coast time!

We had some time in between sessions and had to cross from the west side to the east side, so we opted to visit a few stores, say hi and grab a bite to eat. Eric promised Pete the best burger that he has ever had for lunch , so off we went to The Burger Joint, located behind a giant orange curtain in the swanky Le Parker Meridien. The hotel staff there has GOT to hate this place, as it queues up in a giant line that snakes around the lobby. The only marker for the restaurant is a small neon sign on the wall, although that monster line of people is a big help.

This place to me is a study how to do everything possible to keep customers away...and then experience amazing success as a result. Cash only. If you don't know your order when you get to the front of the line, go to the end. Bossy, hand-written signs stating that if it isn't on the menu, they don't have it. Impatient, rude employees who would as soon hit you then give you a receipt...in my world that would be called a customer complaint, here it is considered part of the experience.

Not being a burger eater, I was thinking that I was going to end up eating fries for lunch because there was NO WAY that I dared to ask for a custom item. Thankfully, there was a piece of notebook paper taped to the back of the register that displayed a menu, including a grilled cheese sandwich, whew!

I ordered quickly, pissed off the cashier by asking for a receipt for my $10 grilled cheese and fries, and got lucky by finding a booth that opened up just as we were looking to sit down. We spent the entire meal marveling at how the owner (we assumed, anyway by the way he was yelling at everyone) gets to do whatever the heck he wants, advertise nowhere and sit back to count the money as people line up each day to throw their cash at him.

We SERIOUSLY need to figure out how to make this magic happen for ourselves!

Eating Good in the Big Apple

Work has brought me to NYC for the week; it has been a while since I have been here, so I am enjoying the little discoveries as I travel through the city between stores.

Sunday was a travel day. I probably could have done a red-eye Sunday night to make it into the city for an 8 am Monday class, but have grown wiser in my years and am not going to subject myself to that kind of crazy torture...I've done it twice before and the last time I did it I think that I was groggy for 3 days trying to catch up!

The Sunday arrival meant that there was a little bit of time to catch up with some friends and enjoy dinner at Rosa Mexicano in a location I have not yet visited...Hackensack, NJ.

Rosa did not disappoint, even going so far as dessert because it was a featured item that the waiter did such a nice job describing, I couldn't pass it up. The simple name is chocolate cupcake, but it was sooooooooooo much more! I could only manage to eat 1/2 myself, but once pushed to the center of the table, it was quickly consumed by the rest of the group.

There is a lot of work on the docket this week and this is not a luxury trip, but I have to admit that we have planned out at least six of our next meals to make sure we hit some old favorites as well as some new places that promise to be great.

I ran on the treadmill yesterday in anticipation of the Nike Women's 1/2 Marathon next weekend, but the truth of the matter is I was really trying to get ahead of the fact that I am going to be eating my way through the city this week!

YUM

I was in Venice on Friday (as in the little bohemian community in Los Angeles, not Italy) for work and was instructed to try a pizza place called Abott's Pizza Co. if I wanted a good slice of NY style pizza.

After asking around (and then looking out the front door), I realized that it was right across the street, so I popped over for lunch.

I am not even sure that words can explain the deliciousness of my slice of goat cheese with sesame seeds on the bagel crust. There is also some kind of spicy dipping sauce that makes that tasty crust even tastier. I thoroughly enjoyed my lunch so much that I brought back a menu in anticipation of ordering some to take home for dinner.

I couldn't decide between the salad pizza (imagine a fully dressed Greek salad loaded with avocado on top of a cheese pizza) or the mushroom, because both were so heavily recommended by the people I asked for an opinion.

I ended up getting a small of both. YUM!

Gale's

Schnoogs and I have started a Wednesday tradition. We meet for dinner to catch-up on the midweek activities, and to allow me to make sure she isn't wasting away to nothing in her starving student era.

We decided to do things a little differently in choosing our dinner locations. No chains or "standard" restaurants. We are Yelping our way through the area, visiting places that catch our eye for food, ambiance or great reviews from fellow Yelpers. We have had success with every visit so far, this week being no exception at Gale's in Pasadena.

We had to venture outside of Northridge a bit because I am doing some field training for the next few weeks, making it tough to get back to Northridge by 7 or so. Schnoogs, not being one to miss a free meal, gladly offered to drive out and meet me, which worked out rather nicely.

This restaurant was a bit fancier than a few of the others that we have been to thus far, but it was extremely tasty (both the pumpkin ravioli and the gnocchi fell into the "would order again" category AND they were portioned generously enough to provide the starving student with lunch on Thursday), with a nice ambiance as well. Yelp is a great little tool for finding those places that we might otherwise completely miss.

Most importantly, Holly and I get some fine eating AND chatting time in together. Two of our favorite things!